This invention is directed to an absorbent garment that is designed to reduce or eliminate any tendency of the garment to droop when loaded.
Diapers and other absorbent garments are intended to fit a wearer and to stay on the wearer until removed by the wearer or caregiver. While still in place on the wearer, diapers often droop or sag between the legs of the wearer, particularly when the garment is loaded with bodily wastes. This drooping or sagging may be the result of one or more factors.
The proportion of the garment dimensions appears to be a key factor in garment drooping. For example, some diapers are very long and extend from above the wearer's navel through the crotch region and up the wearer's back. These diapers have front and/or back waist regions that are applied above the wearer's natural waistline. When a diaper is loaded, the added weight in the crotch region pulls the garment down. Quite often when a diaper is pulled down by this added weight, the waist region of the garment comes to rest along the wearer's waistline, thereby resulting in a sagging crotch region. At the waistline the garment comes to rest on the natural bond structure of the wearer's hips.
Some diapers have wide crotch regions. While a wide crotch region provides a storage area for bodily wastes, the excess material is also prone to being pulled down by the weight of bodily wastes, thereby resulting in droopiness in the crotch region. More particularly, the legs and thighs compress a wide crotch width to conform to the dimension between the upper thighs when the wearer is in a natural walking or standing position. When the width of the crotch is reduced by the thighs in this manner, a force is applied downward on the waistband thereby lowering the garment on the body, thus resulting in droop.
Absorbent garments typically include elasticized portions around the leg openings and the waist opening. If the waist elastic has insufficient retraction force, the garment may slide down the wearer's torso, often past the wearer's waistline. Thus, the waist elastic may be another factor that contributes to a drooping tendency of an absorbent garment.
From a manufacturing point of view, it is desirable to include as little material as possible in each absorbent garment to generate cost savings in terms of material expenditures. From a consumer's point of view, it is desirable to include as much material as necessary to provide a comfortable fit as well as adequate absorbency and leak resistance. Thus, it is desirable to optimize the amount of material used in such garments by determining the least amount of material necessary to provide sufficient comfort and functionality.
There is thus a need or desire for an absorbent garment that is designed to eliminate or reduce the occurrence of drooping in the crotch region at a reduced product cost.